JP4765166B2 - Coating liquid application equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a coating liquid coating apparatus and method for coating a coating liquid on, for example, a recess formed in a stripe shape on the surface of a substrate, and more particularly to a manufacturing apparatus and a method for a light emitting substrate for a plasma display.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as a substrate placed on a table and coated with a coating liquid, for example, there are a light emitting substrate for plasma display and a light emitting substrate for LCD. In light emitting substrates for plasma displays, a plurality of vertical ribs extending in the coating direction are formed on the surface of the substrate, and in recent years, in order to meet demands for improving brightness and contrast and reducing power consumption, a lattice-like surface is formed on the substrate surface. Substrates having recesses are also employed (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 11-213896 and 2000-123747). As an apparatus for applying a coating solution to a substrate placed on a table, a device as described in JP-A-11-274274 is known. Further, as an alignment mark detection means for confirming the position of a substrate in a coating apparatus or the like, generally, the upper surface side of the substrate, that is, the substrate detection method of the substrate detection device of JP-A-5-294405, that is, The mark detecting means is arranged from the coating liquid application surface toward the table side.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in an apparatus such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-274274, it is possible to detect the substrate on the pins of the substrate raising / lowering means, but not to detect the substrate on the table, and the substrate detecting means is a light emitting / receiving type. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a light receiving part or a light projecting part above the substrate. In particular, since an application head and a mechanism for operating them are provided above the substrate, the arrangement of the substrate detection means above the substrate may increase the size of the apparatus. Further, when malfunctioning or the like, there is a concern about interference with the coating head, which may cause damage to the apparatus.
[0004]
Also, regarding the type of board size, the operator only knows the type of board size currently being put in. If a board of another type is thrown in due to some mistake, for example, When a large-sized substrate is mistakenly applied to apply a coating liquid to a small-sized substrate, an area where no coating liquid is applied appears.
[0005]
On the other hand, the alignment mark detection unit is also concerned about interference with the coating head, and after a series of operations, the substrate is placed on the table, and the suction unit sucks the substrate, and then the mark detection unit is attached to the substrate. The operation goes to detect the marked mark. Therefore, the time taken for the mark detection means to detect the mark attached to the substrate is a loss of tact time of the apparatus, and improvement in productivity cannot be expected.
[0006]
The object of the present invention is to reliably detect the presence or absence of a substrate on a table or a substrate lifting means while preventing an increase in the size of the device, and to detect an alignment mark on the surface of the substrate to prevent malfunction of the device. It is another object of the present invention to provide a coating liquid coating apparatus and method and a plasma display member manufacturing apparatus and method capable of improving productivity.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, a coating liquid coating apparatus of the present invention includes a table for adsorbing and fixing a substrate to which a coating liquid is applied, a coating head for applying the coating liquid to the substrate at a position facing the substrate, Detection of penetrating through the table in the thickness direction in a coating liquid coating apparatus comprising: a moving means for moving the table and the coating head relative to each other; and a substrate lifting / lowering means for placing the substrate on the table and separating the substrate from the table. A hole is formed, and a detection head portion of a substrate detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a substrate on the table or the substrate lifting means is inserted into the detection hole, and the detection head portion of the substrate detection means is supported by the substrate lifting means The detection head portion is configured to be movable up and down together with the substrate lifting means .
[0010]
As described above, the detection head portion of the substrate detection means is supported by the substrate lifting / lowering means . That is, when the substrate lifting / lowering means is lowered, the detection head portion is installed in the detection hole of the table, and when the substrate lifting / lowering means is raised, the detection hole protrudes from the substrate mounting surface of the table. It can be configured to. In this case, since the distance between the substrate and the detection head unit can be kept constant at all times, the reliability of the presence / absence detection of the substrate can be improved.
[0012]
For example, a CCD camera, an optical fiber photoelectric sensor, or the like can be used as the detection head portion of the substrate detection means. The substrate is generally transparent glass (including colorless and transparent, colored and transparent, colorless and translucent, and colored and translucent). Therefore, if a CCD camera is used as the detection head unit, the alignment mark can be detected even from the side opposite to the coating surface of the substrate, so that the substrate detection means can be provided with an alignment mark detection function. On the other hand, if a CCD camera is used for the detection head portion of the alignment mark detection means, the presence / absence of the substrate can be detected together with the detection of the alignment mark, so that the substrate detection function can be provided to the alignment mark detection means. If the substrate detection means is provided with the alignment mark detection function as described above, or if the alignment mark detection means is provided with the substrate detection function, the substrate detection and the alignment mark detection can be performed simultaneously. Loss can be greatly reduced and productivity can be improved.
[0013]
In order to solve the above problems, a coating liquid coating method of the present invention includes a step of moving the substrate onto a table, a step of supporting the substrate by a substrate lifting / lowering means, and placing the substrate on the table, A step of detecting a substrate by a detection head unit of a substrate detection unit; and a step of applying a coating liquid on the substrate by a coating head disposed at a position facing the substrate, the detection head unit comprising: It is arranged on the table side with respect to the substrate, and is lifted and lowered together with the lifting and lowering means of the substrate.
Further, when the substrate lifting means is raised, if the means and the coating head are in a positional relationship where they interfere with each other, the raising of the substrate lifting means may be stopped .
[0016]
Further, in the coating liquid application method as described above, the presence or absence of the substrate on the table or the substrate lifting / lowering means is detected, and when the substrate exists, the supply of a new substrate by the substrate supply means is stopped. Therefore, the malfunction of the apparatus can be prevented and the generation of defective substrates can be surely prevented.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a coating liquid coating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This coating apparatus is an apparatus that forms a plurality of rows of striped coating liquid coating portions in a predetermined direction on the surface of a substrate 1 to be coated (in this embodiment, a light emitting substrate for plasma display). In FIG. 1, the coating apparatus has X slide rails 3 a and 3 b extending on the machine base 2 in the X-axis direction. An X slide table 4 is provided on the X slide rails 3a and 3b so as to be slidable in the X axis direction. The X slide table 4 is engaged with a drive shaft 5 for sliding the table 4 in the X axis direction. The X slide table 4 is slid in the X axis direction by the X axis motor 6. The substrate 1 is positioned on the X slide table 4 and is adsorbed and supported detachably.
[0018]
Above the machine base 2, a gate-type support machine base 7 is provided so as to straddle the machine base 2. The support machine base 7 has Y slide rails 8a and 8b extending in the Y-axis direction on the side surface 7a on the front side. A Y slide table 9 is provided on the Y slide rails 8a and 8b so as to be slidable in the Y-axis direction. A drive shaft 10 for sliding the table 9 in the Y-axis direction is engaged with the Y slide table 9. The Y slide table 9 is slid in the Y axis direction by the Y axis motor 11. The X slide table 4, the Y slide table 9 and the like constitute a first moving means 29a for relatively moving the coating head 18 and the substrate 1 to be coated in the coating direction (X axis, Y axis direction).
[0019]
On the Y slide table 9, Z slide rails 12a and 12b extending in the Z-axis direction are provided. A Z slide table 13 is provided on the Z slide rails 12a and 12b so as to be slidable in the Z-axis direction. A drive shaft 14 for sliding the table 13 in the Z-axis direction is engaged with the Z slide table 13. The Z slide table 13 is slid in the Z axis direction, that is, the direction in which the coating head 18 approaches and separates from the substrate 1 by the Z axis motor 15 connected to the Z axis direction position control means 41. In this way, the second moving means 29b is configured.
[0020]
An application head 18 is attached to the Z slide table 13. A position sensor 17 for detecting the position of the coating head 18 in the Y-axis direction is attached to the Y slide table 9. The position sensor 17 is movably supported on a sensor support shaft 16 provided in the Y-axis direction on the upper surface of the support machine base 7. A Y-axis direction speed control means 20 for changing the moving speed of the Y slide table 9 is connected to the Y-axis motor 11.
[0021]
The coating head 18 is moved in the Y-axis direction of FIG. 1 and discharges coating liquid from a plurality of nozzle holes 18 a provided at a predetermined interval on the lower surface plate 32 of the coating head 18. A row of coated stripes 19 is formed.
[0022]
FIG. 2 shows the periphery of the coating head 18 when the coating apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from the X-axis direction. The camera 22 attached to the Z slide table 13 captures an image of the representative concave portion 21 in the substrate 1, and the X slide table 4 is moved by the X axis position control unit 24 via the image position processing unit 23. The center of the representative recess 21 is controlled so that the center of the representative nozzle hole 18a in the coating head 18 corresponding to the representative recess 21 substantially coincides. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the difference ΔX between the image of the concave portion 21 as a representative of the substrate 1 and the center of the image processing cursor 50 is corrected by moving the X slide table 4 in the X axis direction. Yes.
[0023]
The representative recess 21 is the recess 21 in the center of the recess arrangement direction. The representative nozzle hole 18a is the nozzle hole 18a at the center in the arrangement direction. If the representative concave portion 21 and the representative nozzle hole 18a are respectively set to the concave portion 21 and the nozzle hole 18a at the center in the arrangement direction, the positional deviation at the center between the concave portion 21 and the nozzle hole 18a at the end in the arrangement direction is minimized. Can be suppressed.
[0024]
FIG. 4 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the supply controller for supplying the coating liquid to the coating head 18 of the coating apparatus shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the application head 18 includes a housing 31, and nozzle holes 18 a for discharging a large number of coating liquids are formed in a row at predetermined intervals on the lower surface plate 32 of the housing 31. A space 33 inside the housing 31 is formed by a coating liquid storage section 34 in which the coating liquid 30 (phosphor paste 27) is stored and a gas space 35 located above the coating liquid storage section 34. The upper surface plate 36 of the casing 31 is provided with a gas pressure conduction hole 37, and one end of a gas pressure conduction path 38 formed of a pipe line is connected to the gas pressure conduction hole 37. The other end of the gas pressure conducting path 38 is opened to a gas pressure source 40 having a pressure maintained at a set pressure. The gas pressure conducting path 38 is provided with an opening / closing means 39 formed of a direction switching valve, and the gas space 35 and the gas pressure source 40 are communicated and shut off by switching the opening / closing means 39. The opening / closing means 39 detects the position of the nozzle hole 18a of each coating head 18 and the relative position of the substrate 1, and the opening / closing timing is controlled by a position detection and discharge control means (not shown) that controls the timing of the opening / closing means 39. It is like that. In this embodiment, the paste 27 is applied with any one of R (red), G (green), and B (blue).
[0025]
FIG. 5 shows details of the recess 21 formed on the substrate 1 as seen from above. The concave portion 21 on the first surface is filled with the phosphor paste 27, and the concave portion 21 formed in a stripe shape at a predetermined pitch between the plurality of vertical ribs 25a extending in the coating liquid application direction is an end portion of the display portion. It is not formed in the cut-off non-display portion 26. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the same color coating liquid can be applied to every second recess 21. Therefore, the pitch of the nozzle holes 18a is three times the pitch of the vertical ribs 25a. In addition, as the board | substrate 1, as shown in FIG. 7, you may have the recessed part 21 formed in a grid | lattice form by the several ribs 25b extended in the direction orthogonal to the vertical rib 25a and this vertical rib 25a.
[0026]
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, below the X slide table 4, a substrate lifting means for placing the substrate 1 on the substrate placement surface 4a of the X slide table 4 and separating the substrate 1 from the surface 4a. 53 and substrate detecting means 51 for detecting the presence or absence of the substrate 1 on the pins 54 or the surface 4a of the means 53. The detection head portion 52 (optical fiber photoelectric sensor in this embodiment) of the substrate detection means 51 is inserted into a detection hole 4c that penetrates in the thickness direction of the table 4, and the substrate 1 is inserted through the detection hole 4c. It comes to detect. Detection head unit 52 is interpolated in the X slide table 4 so as to lower than the surface 4a. In FIG. 8, the substrate detection means 51 has been interpolated in the X slide table 4, in the present invention is supported by the substrate lifting unit 53. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the substrate detection means 51 can be integrated with the substrate lifting / lowering means 53. In FIG. 9, the detection head portion 52 of the substrate detection means 51 is supported by the support member 55 of the substrate elevating means 53 via the member 60, and moves up and down as the substrate elevating means 53 rises and falls. It is like that. In other words, in the state where the substrate lifting / lowering means 53 is lowered, the detection head portion 52 is built in the detection hole 4c and is positioned below the surface 4a. 52 protrudes from the surface 4a. As described above, if the detection head unit 52 is configured to be movable, the distance between the detection head unit 52 and the substrate 1 can always be kept constant, so that the reliability of substrate detection can be improved.
[0027]
The substrate lifting / lowering means 53 includes a plurality of pins 54, a support member 55 that supports the pins 54, guide means 56 that guides the lifting / lowering of the support member 55, and a drive source 57. The member 55 and the pin 54 are moved up and down by the power from the drive source 57. When the substrate 54 is supplied onto the pins 54 from the substrate supply / discharge means 59 in a state where the pins 54 are raised and inserted through the insertion holes 4b of the X slide table 4 and protrude from the surface 4a, the pins 54 gradually descend, The substrate 1 is placed on 4a. When the application of the paste 27 to the substrate 1 is completed, the pins 54 are raised again so that the substrate 1 is separated from the surface 4a. Then, the substrate 1 that has been coated and separated from the surface 4a is sent to the next step (for example, another color coating step) by the substrate supply / discharge means 59.
[0028]
The substrate lifting / lowering means 53 is slidable in the X-axis direction together with the X slide table 4. Driving / stopping of the driving source 57 of the substrate lifting / lowering means 53 is controlled by the control means 58.
[0029]
A substrate detection signal from the substrate detection means 51 is sent to the control means 58. Further, a position signal of the coating head 18 in the X-axis and Y-axis directions is transmitted to the control unit 58. When the substrate raising / lowering means 53 is raised, if the pins 54 or the substrate 1 and the coating head 18 are in a positional relationship where they interfere with each other, the raising / lowering of the substrate raising / lowering means 53 is prohibited. For this reason, in particular, the problem that the substrate lifting / lowering means 53 rises erroneously while the substrate 1 is placed on the surface 4a and the paste 27 is being applied by the coating head 18 is reliably prevented. ing.
[0030]
The control means 58 also controls the substrate supply / discharge means 59. As described above, when the presence of the substrate 1 on the surface 4a or the pin 54 is detected, the supply of the new substrate 1 onto the pin 54 is stopped.
[0031]
In the coating liquid coating apparatus and method of the present embodiment, the substrate detecting means 51 for detecting the presence or absence of the substrate 1 on the X slide table 4 or the substrate lifting / lowering means 53 is provided. The presence of the substrate 1 in can be reliably detected. When the substrate 1 exists on the X slide table 4 or the like, the supply of a new substrate 1 by the substrate supply / discharge unit 59 is prohibited, so that the substrate 1 exists on the X slide table 4 or the like. Regardless, it is possible to reliably prevent a malfunction that supplies a new substrate 1. Further, when the substrate lifting means 53 is raised, the substrate 1 etc. and the coating head 18 are in a position where they interfere with each other. It is possible to reliably prevent the inconvenience that the elevating means 53 is raised by mistake and the substrate 1 and the coating head 18 collide.
[0032]
Moreover, in this embodiment, the detection head part 52 of the board | substrate detection means 1 is inserted in the detection hole 4c. That is, since it is provided below the surface 4a, it is possible to promote downsizing of the device as compared with the conventional device in which, for example, the light receiving portion or the like has to be provided above the surface 4a.
[0033]
In this embodiment, an optical fiber photoelectric sensor is used as the detection head unit 52, but a CCD camera, for example, can also be used.
[0034]
10 and 11 show a coating liquid coating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In addition, the same number is attached | subjected to the member same as the said 1st embodiment, and the description is abbreviate | omitted. In this embodiment, a substrate lifting / lowering means 61 is provided below the X slide table 4. The substrate lifting means 61 includes a pin 62, a support member 63 that supports the pin 62, a drive source 57 that lifts and lowers the support member 63, and a guide means 64 that guides the lifting and lowering of the support member 63. When the support member 63 moves up and down by the power from the drive source 65, the pin 62 inserted through the insertion hole 4b of the X slide table 4 moves up and down.
[0035]
In the detection holes 4d, 4e, 4f, and 4g of the X slide table 4, an optical fiber photoelectric sensor 67 or a CCD camera 68 is inserted as a detection head portion of the substrate detection means 66. The sensor 67 is supported by the support member 63 of the substrate lifting / lowering means 61 by the member 60. When the elevating means 61 is lowered, the sensor 67 is built in the detection holes 4d and 4e and is positioned below the surface 4c. On the other hand, when the elevating means 61 is raised, the sensor 67 protrudes above the surface 4c.
[0036]
The detection holes 4d and 4g correspond to positions immediately below where the alignment mark 69 is present when the large substrate 1a is correctly placed on the table 4, while the detection holes 4e and 4f are alignment marks of the small substrate 1b. It is drilled at a position corresponding to directly below 70.
[0037]
Therefore, in this embodiment, when the substrate placed on the X slide table 4 is the large substrate 1a, the presence or absence of the substrate 1a and the alignment mark 69 are detected by the camera 68 in the detection hole 4g. The presence or absence of the substrate 1a is detected by the sensor 67 in the detection holes 4d and 4e and the CCD camera 68 in the detection hole 4f. On the other hand, when the substrate placed on the X slide table 4 is the small substrate 1b, the presence or absence of the substrate 1b is detected by the sensor 67 in 4e, and the presence or absence of the substrate 1b is detected by the CCD camera 68 in 4f. The alignment mark 70 is detected. The detection signals from the sensor 67 and the camera 68 are sent to the sequential control means 58, and the drive source 57 and the substrate supply / discharge means 59 are controlled as in the first embodiment.
[0038]
Also in this embodiment, according to the effect | action of the said 1st embodiment, size reduction of an apparatus can be accelerated | stimulated, preventing the malfunctioning of an apparatus. In this embodiment, the camera 68 functions as an alignment mark detection unit. That is, the substrate detection means 61 can detect the alignment mark. Thus, if the substrate detection and the alignment mark detection are performed at the same time, the tact time loss of the apparatus can be greatly suppressed. Furthermore, in this embodiment, it is possible to detect substrates 1a and 1b having different sizes. This is an excellent result obtained by implementing the present invention in which the detection head portion is inserted into the detection hole 4c. It is an effect. For example, in the conventional apparatus, when two or more kinds of substrates having different sizes are to be detected, it is necessary to arrange a plurality of sensors above the table, but this is extremely difficult due to space limitations. .
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the coating liquid coating apparatus and method of the present invention, it is possible to reliably detect the presence or absence of the substrate on the table or the substrate lifting means while preventing the apparatus from becoming large. In addition, when a substrate is present on a table or the like, supply of a new substrate is stopped, so that it is possible to prevent device troubles and occurrence of defective substrates. Further, if the coating head and the substrate, etc. are in a position where they interfere with each other when the substrate lifting means is raised, the raising of the substrate lifting means is prohibited, so that the collision between the coating head and the substrate lifting means can be prevented. The risk of damage to the device due to operation can be eliminated.
[0040]
In addition, since the substrate detection means can detect the presence or absence of two or more types of substrates having different sizes, it is possible to prevent application failure and malfunction of the apparatus due to mixing of substrates of different sizes. Moreover, if the detection function of the alignment mark is added to the substrate detection means, the detection of the substrate and the detection of the alignment mark can be performed at the same time, so the loss of the tact time of the apparatus is reduced and the productivity is greatly improved. Can do.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a coating liquid coating apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the periphery of a coating head when the coating apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from the X-axis direction.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an image of a recess and a cursor for image processing.
4 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a supply controller for supplying a coating liquid to a coating head of the coating apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a recess on a substrate as viewed from above.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a positional relationship between nozzle holes and recesses.
7 is a plan view of a substrate according to another embodiment different from FIG. 5; FIG.
FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of substrate detection means of the first apparatus.
FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment in which the substrate detection means is supported by the substrate lifting means in the apparatus of FIG . 8;
FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a substrate detection unit of a coating liquid coating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a plan view of a table of the apparatus of FIG. 9. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate to be coated 1a Large substrate 1b Small substrate 2 Machine base 3a, 3b X slide rail 4 X slide table 4a Substrate mounting surface 4b Insertion hole 4c Detection hole 5 Drive shaft 6 X axis motor 7 Support machine base 7a Side surface 8a, 8b Y slide rail 9 Y slide table 10 Drive shaft 11 Y axis motors 12a, 12b Z slide rail 13 Z slide table 14 Drive shaft 15 Z axis motor 16 Sensor support shaft 17 Position sensor 18 Application head 18a Nozzle hole 19 Application stripe 20 Y Axial speed control means 21 Recess 22 Camera 23 Image position processing section 24 X-axis position control section 25a Vertical rib 25b Horizontal rib 26 Non-display part 27 Phosphor paste 29a First moving means 29b Second moving means 30 Coating liquid 31 Housing 32 Lower surface plate 33 Space 34 Coating liquid reservoir 35 Gas space 36 Upper surface plate 37 Gas pressure Through hole 38 Gas pressure conduction path 39 Opening / closing means 40 Gas pressure source 41 Z-axis direction position control means 50 Cursor 51, 66 Substrate detection means 52 Detection head portion 53, 61 Substrate elevating means 54, 62 Pin 55, 63 Support member 56, 64 Guide means 57, 65 Drive source 58 Control means 59 Substrate supply / discharge means 60 Member 67 Optical fiber photoelectric sensor 68 CCD camera 69, 70 Alignment mark

Claims (1)

A table for adsorbing and fixing the substrate to which the coating liquid is applied;
An application head for applying to the substrate at a position facing the substrate;
Moving means for relatively moving the table and the coating head;
In a coating liquid coating apparatus having substrate lifting and lowering means placed on the substrate table and separated from the table,
A detection hole penetrating in the thickness direction is formed in the table, and a detection head portion of a substrate detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a substrate on the table or the substrate lifting / lowering means is inserted into the detection hole, and the substrate detection means A coating liquid coating apparatus, wherein the detection head unit is supported by a substrate lifting / lowering unit, and the detection head unit can be lifted / lowered together with the substrate lifting / lowering unit.

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